Introduction

CRM systems typically store voluminous customer data, including personal details, contact information, purchase history, and sometimes financial information. This data is valuable and needs to be safeguarded to maintain customer privacy and comply with data protection regulations.

In the context of CRM software, masking refers to the process of hiding or obfuscating sensitive customer data to protect it from unauthorized access.  Masking ensures that only authorized individuals can view or access certain information in the CRM.

Masking in Vtiger CRM

Vtiger CRM provides several mechanisms to mask and protect sensitive information. Here are some ways Vtiger CRM can help in masking information:

• Field-Level Security: Vtiger CRM allows administrators to set field-level security permissions. This means that certain fields can be configured to be visible or editable only to authorized users or specific user roles.
• Access Control: Vtiger CRM provides robust access control features that allow administrators to define user roles and permissions. Administrators can control which users can access specific modules, records, or data fields by assigning appropriate roles. 
• Data Encryption: Vtiger CRM offers encryption mechanisms to secure data at rest and in transit. Encryption ensures that even if unauthorized individuals access the data, it remains unreadable without the decryption key.
• Masking Data Display: Vtiger CRM provides options to mask or partially hide sensitive information. For example, credit card numbers can be masked to display only the last few digits or phone numbers can be masked to display only certain digits.
• Anonymization: Vtiger CRM also supports anonymization techniques. Administrators can configure certain fields to store anonymized data instead of personally identifiable information (PII). 

Fields that can be Masked in Vtiger CRM

Following are the features in Vtiger CRM whose field values are masked when value masking is enabled:

• Contacts and Organization Hierarchy
• List View of a module 
• One View of a Record
• Webservice APIs
  • retrieve
  • query
  • sync
  • update
  • create
  • revise
  • retrieve_related
  • query_related
  • get_account_hierarchy
  • get_record_hierarchy
• Email templates and Print templates (Containing merge tags of masked fields)
• Incoming emails from the Mailroom, Inbox, and Cases
• WhatsApp messages 
• SMS Messages
• Phone Calls
  • Phone numbers when making outgoing calls and in the pop-up for incoming calls
• External applications that support masking are:
  • Mobile App
  • Employee Portal
  • Gmail Add-ons
  • Office 365
  • Vtiger Enrich
  • Vtiger Buzz
  • Vtiger for Gmail
  • Google Sheet exporting
• Reports
  • Charts
  • Pivot
  • Detail
  • Exporting Data
  • Schedule Reports
  • Email campaign reports
• Data exported from the List View
• History widget on the dashboard
• Record activity history
• Email address when converting a Lead.
• Insights Designer
• Process designer history

Feature Availability

The Masking add-on is available for only Professional and Enterprise editions.

Benefits of Masking Information

Following are the benefits of masking information in Vtiger CRM:

• Enhanced Data Security: By masking sensitive information, such as personal identification numbers, credit card details, or social security numbers, you reduce the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches. 
• Compliance with Data Protection Regulations: Many industries have strict regulations regarding the handling and storing of sensitive customer data. Masking information in compliance with these regulations helps organizations meet legal requirements such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Improved Customer Trust: When customers entrust their personal information to a company, they expect it to be handled securely. Implementing data masking techniques in your CRM system demonstrates a commitment to protecting customer privacy.
• Minimized Insider Threats: Not all data breaches are external. Insider threats can occur, such as unauthorized access or data misuse by employees or contractors.
• Reduces Data Exposure in Testing Environments: CRM systems often have separate testing environments where developers and testers work with real or synthetic data.
• Facilitates Data Analytics and Reporting: Data masking techniques can preserve customer data's statistical and analytical value without compromising privacy. 

Masking information in a CRM system contributes to data security, regulatory compliance, customer trust, and responsible data handling practices.

In this article, you will learn about the following:

• Installing Masking add-on from the Extension Store
• Using the Masking feature 
  • Enabling masking feature
  • Setting up maskin for roles
  • Setting up making for profiles
  • Setting up masking for modules

Key Terminology

Installing Masking Add-on

Follow these steps to install the Maskin add-on from Extension Store:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the User Menu.
3. Click Settings.
4. Look for the Extensions.
5. Click Add-ons.
6. Search for Masking.
7. Click Install.

After successful installation, you will see a success message on the screen. You can find the Masking feature under Settings > Module Management > Modules.

Using the Masking Feature

Being an admin user, you can do the following:

• Enable masking feature
• Set up masking for roles
• Set up masking for profiles
• Set up masking for modules

Enabling the Masking Feature

Follow these steps to enable the Masking feature:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the User Menu.
3. Click Settings.
4. Look for Module Manager.
5. Click Module.
6. Look for Masking.
7. Enable the Checkbox beside Masking. You will see a success message.

Setting up Masking for Roles

Follow these steps to set up Masking for a Role:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the User Menu.
3. Click Settings.
4. Look for User Management.
5. Click Roles.
6. Select the required Role from the hierarchy.
7. Click the Other Modules drop-down.
8. Check the Checkbox to enable Masking.

Similarly, if you want to disable the Masking for a role, enable the checkbox beside Unmask Masked Values under the Other Modules drop-down and click Save.

Setting up Masking for Profiles

Follow these steps to set up masking for a profile:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the User Menu.
3. Click Settings.
4. Look for User Management.
5. Click Profiles.
6. Select the required Profile from the list.
7. Click the Other Modules drop-down.
8. Enable the Checkbox.

Similarly, if you want to disable Masking for a Profile, check the checkbox beside Unmask Masked Values under the Other Modules drop-down and click Save.

Setting up Masking for Modules

Follow these steps to set up masking for specific fields of a module:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the User Menu.
3. Click Settings.
4. Look for Module Manager.
5. Click Module Layouts & Fields. The Module Layouts & Fields window appears.
6. Select the required module from the Select Module drop-down.
7. Hover over the field you want to mask and click the Edit icon. The edit pop-up appears.
8. Enable the Checkbox beside the Masking option.
9. Click Save.

Note: If you try to disable the masking for a module, the CRM displays the following warning messages. 

• Remove the masking for fields before disabling the masking module.
• Related modules that might be affected.

The following are the limitations of the Masking feature:

• If any email field is masked, it will not display the Masking feature in the following: 
  • Compose an email
  • Inbox email 
  • Cases. 
• Following actions are restricted to avoid leaking masked email addresses.
  • Reply
  • Reply All
  • Forward
• Masking is enabled for only the following field types:
  • Email
  • Phone
  • Text
• The Details tab from the Cases module allows you to see the email address in each email thread but does not allow you to see the email address in the CC field.
• Email validation will not be performed when masking is enabled.
• External applications that will not follow the masked settings are:
  • Customer Portal
  • Partner Portal
• You must restrict searching for masked fields in the following areas:
  • List view
  • Related List view
  • Global Search
  • Global Advanced search
  • Compose email window in Inbox and other places.
  • Invitees in Events records
• Numbers from phone calls are masked and then decoded for the customer.